Are HIV-positive women engaging in risky behaviors?
Nancy Wongvipat, MPH and Lee Klosinski, PhD. Education, AIDS Project Los Angeles, 1313 N. Vine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90028, (323) 993-1511, nwongvipat@apla.org With the HIV epidemic increasingly disproportionately affecting women, it is crucial to understand the needs and risk behaviors of women living with HIV. Studies, predominantly with men, show that people living with HIV continue to engage in risky behaviors after HIV diagnosis. Little work has been done at a national level to examine risk behaviors in women. An exploratory survey was conducted at the 1999 National Conference on Women and HIV/AIDS on 453 women living with HIV (WLH) representing all 50 states in both urban and rural settings. These WLH represent recent immigrants, commercial sex workers, women who have sex with women, women who have experienced partner violence or sexual assault, women who have been incarcerated, migrant workers, and homeless and low-income women. Issues examined in the survey included a wide ra
